Learning Surf Photography

Watershot Over Under Dome Port for iPhone and Samsung Smart Phones

Over/under or split level types of shots have becoming very popular with the release of products like the KNEKT KSD6 GoPro dome port and the SPL GoPro Dome Port, but this over/under shot wasn’t taken with a Gopro, Zak Noyle shot it with an iPhone 6 and the Watershot Over Under Dome Port:

https://instagram.com/p/3m4_7IsFJX/?taken-by=zaknoyle

This might interest a few readers who already own an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy S4 and want to start capturing the type of shots you can only get with a dome port.

Is the Watershot Over Under Dome Port better than a GoPro Dome Port?

Well, if you’ve already got a GoPro then I would definitely go for something like the KNEKT KSD6 dome instead, you’ll benefit from the great image quality of the GoPro and the option to use something like the KNEKT GPLT trigger at the same time to make taking this type of shot much easier.

If however you don’t have a Gopro and you do already own an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S4 then this might be a fun way to get some over/under style shots without having to learn how to use any new gadgets.

The Watershot Superdome atatches to their Watrshot pro line of housings for smart phones to allow over/under style shots.
The Watershot SuperDome attaches to their Watershot pro line of housings for smart phones to allow over/under style shots.

Although if you’ve got the cash for an iPhone 6 the budget probably isn’t an issue, so you might as well get the GoPro/dome port set-up too if you’re serious about taking photos like this in the surf.

Where do I get the Watershot Over Under Dome Port?

If you don’t already own a Watershot pro line housing you can buy the housing, super wide adapter and the super dome in one package for $380 on Amazon.

The kit is a good value way to get everything you need to take over/under shots with your iPhone 6.
The kit is a good value way to get everything you need to take over/under shots with your iPhone 6.

The housings and Watershot Over Under Dome Port (t’s called the Watershot SuperDome) are available separately too:

I’d love to hear from any readers who have one of these to see how it compares to my experiences of shooting with GoPro’s, mirrorless cameras and DSLR’s with dome ports for the over/under, 50/50 or split style shots.

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Ben Pascoe

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Comments

4 responses to “Watershot Over Under Dome Port for iPhone and Samsung Smart Phones”

  1. Justine Avatar
    Justine

    Debating between the Hero 4 Silver with Knekt and the WaterShot Pro with dome. I have an older watershot and a new iphone6. Just looking to improve my photography skills and get some cool over under shots, possibly to print for my house. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Love your site.

    Reply
    1. Ben Pascoe Avatar
      Ben Pascoe

      Hi Justine,
      Thanks for the question.

      I think both options will require practice to get the timing and technique right and good light plus some luck to get results good enough to print, but it’s definitely possible with either set-up.

      My initial thoughts are that the GoPro and KNEKT combo will make it easier to get consistent over/under shots, the burst mode for stills (30 in one second) and slightly higher resolution of 12MP means you’re going to be able to get many more usable shots.
      Also the fact that it takes a micro SD card means you can fairly cheaply have enough space to shoot thousands of photos in one session (burst mode and lots of practising means you end up with a huge amount of shots which end up being deleted).

      Plus you get all the benefits of the GoPro system – lots of great accessories, excellent video shooting, more user friendly form factor etc.

      The iPhone takes awesome photos, but it’s not as suited to fast action sports like surfing, I read that you can get 10 shots per second, which is very respectable, but definitely could mean missing out on the perfect frame when shooting over/under.

      The resolution is fine for printing even fairly large prints at 8MP, but is a bit lower than the GoPro Hero4.

      Storage space obviously depends on which model you’ve got but if you’re shooting burst mode and taking lots of shots you might end up running out of space.

      I’d lean towards the GoPro + Knekt option personally.

      Hope that helps.

      Reply
      1. Justine Avatar
        Justine

        Ben,
        Thank you so much for such a detailed answer! I am thinking I will go for the GoPro (would also be cool when I teach my little one to surf, with all of the mounting options). What a great site you have, thank you again.
        Justine

        Reply
        1. Ben Pascoe Avatar
          Ben Pascoe

          Hey Justine,
          No problem, I think you’ll have fun with the GoPro and it will certainly give you lots of options for video too.

          Reply

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